Dan Shea, who was elected three times as a Republican to the Clinton Town Council, announced today that he was backing a Democrat for Congress against the five-term Republican incumbent.

“As a former Council member I was elected as a Republican,” Shea said. “But as a citizen I am appalled by the lack of Republican courage to stand up to the Trump policies and rhetoric. We need to change the balance of party power in Congress, and so I wholeheartedly support Tom Malinowski over Leonard Lance.”

Malinowski is in a statistical dead heat with Lance, according to two public polls conducted last month.

“Defending democracy is a call-to-action to all of us, whether we’re Democrats, Republicans or Independents,” Malinowski said.